Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared. - Buddha

WISDOMISPOWER

Awakened One Shows the Path to Attain Ultimate Bliss

COMPUTER IS AN ENTERTAINMENT INSTRUMENT!

INTERNET!

IS

ENTERTAINMENT NET!

TO BE MOST APPROPRIATE!

Using such an instrument

The Free ONLINE e-Nālandā Research and Practice University has been re-organized to function through the following Schools of Learning :

Buddha’s Sangha Practiced His Dhamma Free of cost, hence the Free-e-Nālandā Research and Practice University follows suit

As the Original Nālandā University did not offer any Degree, so also the Free e-Nālandā Research and Practice University.

The teachings of Buddha are eternal, but even then Buddha did not proclaim them to be infallible. The religion of Buddha has the capacity to change according to times, a quality which no other religion can claim to have…Now what is the basis of Buddhism? If you study carefully, you will see that Buddhism is based on reason. There is an element of flexibility inherent in it, which is not found in any other religion.

§Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, Indian scholar, philosopher and architect of Constitution of India, in his writing and speeches

Do not kill; do not steal; do not commit sexual misconduct; do not engage in false speech; do not take intoxicants. If you observe the Five precepts, you do not do these five kinds of evil deeds and you instead practice good acts.

“Why should one refrain from killing? It is because allliving beingshave a life; theylovetheir life and do not wish to die. Even one of the smallest creatures, the mosquito, when it approaches to bite you, will fly away if you make the slightest motion. Why does it fly away? Because it fears death. It figures that if it drinks your blood you will take its life. From this you can see that all living beings love life and do not wish to die. Especially people. Everyone wants to live and no one wants to die. Although people sometimes commit suicide, ordinarily people do not seek death. Suicide is a special exception to the principle. That is why we should nurture compassionate thought. Since we wish to live, we should not kill any other living beings. That explains the precept against killing.

pāṇātipātā veramaṇī:‘abstaining from the killing of living beings’, is the first of the 5 moral rules binding upon all Buddhists; s.sikkhāpada. (Source:Mahathera, 2007)

“Stealing. If you don’t steal, no one will steal from you. Many of you have heard this verse I wrote:

If in this life you don’t cage birds,in future lives you will not sit in jail.If in this life you do not fish,in future lives you will not beg for food.If in this life you do not kill,in future lives you’ll suffer no disasters.If in this life you do not steal,in future lives you won’t be robbed.If in this life you commit no sexual misconduct,in future lives you will not be divorced.If in this life you do not lie,in future lives you will not be deceived.If in this life you do not take intoxicants, in future lives you will not go insane . . . .

“Some people say, ‘Of the Five Precepts, the four which prohibit killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, and lying are very important. But taking intoxicants is a very commonplace thing. Why prohibit that?’ When you consume intoxicants, it becomes very easy to break the other precepts. Thus, we ban such things as drinking alcohol, smoking tobacco, and taking any kind of intoxicating drugs.

“Some people say, ‘The Five Precepts don’t specifically prohibit smoking tobacco or taking drugs. Doing those things is not in violation of the precepts.’ Those people are wrong. The precept against intoxicants also prohibits smoking tobacco, taking drugs, and using all intoxicating substances — including marijuana and opium.” (BRF 59-60)

“Someone may say, however, ‘I understand why one should not kill. After all, all living beings have theBuddha-nature, all can become Buddhas, and so every living being’s life should be spared. I also understand why stealing is not good and that it is important to refrain from indulging in sexual misconduct and lying, but why are intoxicants included within the Five Precepts? I always enjoyed drinking and smoking. Everybody drinks. Everybody smokes. What’s wrong with it? In fact I’m seriously considering dropping my study of the Buddhadharma just because of this prohibition against intoxicants.’

“You should stop and think about it, instead of just following the crowd. Others enjoy smoking, and so you join them; others enjoy drinking , and so you drink too. You get caught up in such company and do the things they do until eventually you get the habit as well. Most people don’t have grave illnesses, rather merely slight sicknesses and little problems. But just on account of those slight problems you would consider cutting short your study of the Buddhadharma. How stupid that would be! Do you want to know why there is a prohibition against alcohol? I’ll tell you a true story which should clarify this point.

“There once was a man who liked to drink. He took the Five Precepts, but afterwards he didn’t keep them . . . . One day he thought, ‘Perhaps I’ll have a little drink of wine’ He took out a bottle and had a few swallows. He was accustomed to having something to eat with his drink, so he set the bottle down and went outside to look for something to eat. He noticed that his neighbor’s chicken had strayed over into his yard. ‘Good,’ he thought, ‘it will make a good chaser,’ and he snatched up the pullet. At that point he broke the precept against stealing. Once he’d stolen it, he had to kill it before he could eat it, and so he broke the precept against killing. Once the chicken was cooked, he used it to chase down his wine, and soon he was roaring drunk, thus braking once again the precept against the use of intoxicants. About that time there was a knock at his door. It was the neighbor lady in search of her chicken. ‘I haven’t seen it, he blurted out, thereby breaking the precept against lying.

A second glance at the neighbor lady revealed her beauty to him and, aroused by an overpowering sexual desire, he raped her.

Afterwards he was met with litigation. All that came about because he wanted to drink. Just because he had a few drinks, he broke the other four precepts and got into a lot of trouble. Intoxicants cause one to become confused and scattered, and so they re the object of one of the Buddhist prohibitions. A person who is drunk lacks self-control.

With no forewarning he can find himself suddenly in theheavens, suddenly on earth. He mounts the clouds and drives the fog–he’ll do anything . . . .

“The Five Precepts are extremely important. Strict adherence to them will insurerebirthin the realm of humans. If youcultivatethe Five Precepts, you won’t lose the opportunity to be born a person.

“If you receive the Five Precepts and do not violate them, then you are protected by goodDharma-protectingspirits, who are connected with each precept. If you break the precepts, the good spirits leave and no longer protect you. That is why receiving the precepts is extremely important in Buddhism.” (SS I 46-47)

Primary Original Source: The Tripitaka Sutra, Shastra and Vinaya teachings(as found in the scripture storehouse of the Indian Sanskrit-Siddham, Chinese, Tibetan and Japanese traditions of the Nalanda Tradition of ancient Nalanda University)ofShakyamuni Buddha, and his Arya SagelyBodhisattvaBhikshu MonkandUpasakadisciples.

The rights to textual segments (”quoted, paraphrased, or excerpted”) of the are owned by theauthor-publisher indicated in the brackets next to each segment and are make available and commented on (under the “shastra tradition”) underFair Use. For rights regarding the Buddhist “Encyclopaedia - Glossary - Dictionary” compilation as a whole, please know that it is offered under thisCreative Commons License.

Friday, October 8, 2010

The controversial yet historic Women’s Reservation Bill, ensuring 33% reservation to women in Parliament and state legislative bodies, was passed in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday after two days of high drama that saw suspension of seven members who violently disrupted proceedings.The Bill, pushed by the government despite the threat of withdrawal of support by Samajwadi Party and RJD, was passed by a two-third majority, a day after it was moved in the House for consideration but could not be taken up because of unruly scenes.Of the votes polled, 186 were in favour of the bill and only one was against.The Constitution (108th Amendment) Bill could get through with “unequivocal” support from the BJP and the Left in the Upper House where the ruling UPA coalition is in minority. The 245-member House has an effective strength of 233.UPA ally Trinamool Congress, with two members in the Upper House, did not participate in the voting.Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Leader of Opposition Arun Jaitley described the measure as “momentous and historic”.BSP, having 12 members, walked out of the House saying the bill did not contain amendments suggested by it.Lok Sabha also witnessed unruly scenes created by SP, RJD and JD(U) who forced four adjournments.14 years after the first attempt was made inthe Lok Sabha and repeated failures subsequently, the Constitution amendment bill was adopted in the mandatory division with 186 members voting for it and one voting against.In the 245-member House with an effective strength of 233, the bill required the backing of at least 155 members and the UPA had the clear support of 165 in the run up to the event.The bill seeks to reserve for women 181 of the 543 seats in the Lok Sabha and 1,370 out of a total of 4,109 seats in the 28 State Assemblies.Ruling UPA constituent Trinamool Congress,which has two members, kept away from voting, while 15-member BSP, which has opposed the bill in its present form, walked out before voting.JD(U), whose present Sharad Yadav is a staunch opponent of the Bill, appears to have backed the Bill fully with most of its 7 members voting for it in response to the call by one of its senior leaders and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.After frenzied opposition and repeated disruptions, the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday evening finally debated the historic women’s reservation bill in the run up to a vote on the legislation.Amongst those who spoke were Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Arun Jaitley, CommunistParty of India-Marxist’s (CPI-M) Brinda Karat,Bahujan Samaj Party’s (BSP) Satish Mishra and Jayanthi Natarajan of Congress.Opening the debate was Jaitley, who said his party “unequivocally” supported the women’s bill but added that the privilege ofsupporting it had been diluted by “some of the most shameful incidents in India’s parliamentary history”.The leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha, who spoke after the constitution amendment bill was put to vote by Chairman Hamid Ansari, said he had a feeling of being a party to history in the making when he came to the house.Karat, a vocal supporter of the bill, said women’s reservation in parliament and state legislatures would change the “cultureof the country because women today are still caught in a culture prison. In the name of tradition, stereotypes are imposed and we have to fight these every day”.These stereotypes will also be broken by thebill, said Karat, who believes the entry of a larger number of women in legislatures would make for “more sensitive politics”.“The women’s reservation bill will ensure that women of Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, Other Backward Classes, poor women and Muslim women would benefit from it,” Karat said, addressing concerns that the bill would benefit only some sections.Congress leader and spokesperson Jayanti Natarajan also refuted critics demanding a special quota for Scheduled Caste women, saying Scheduled Castes and Tribals would continue to get reservation under the bill.A triumphant Natarajan said no other party had the courage to deliver the promise (of reservation for women) to the people of India”. She said Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singhhad not lagged behind in supporting measures for women’s empowerment.However, Bahujan Samaj Party’s Satish Mishra said his party would not be able to support the proposed legislation in the current form. He wanted the prime ministerto reserve 50 percent of all seats in legislatures for women in line with their population ratio.Shivanand Tiwari of the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) created a minor stir in the house by speaking in favour of the bill, which has been opposed vocally by a section of his colleagues led by party president Sharad Yadav.The AIADMK’s V. Maitreyan pointed out that the bill was a great tribute to the Indian housewife who he said had proved to be better financial managers of the household”than all the finance ministers of India”.

The Women

*.More women participation in politics and society.*.Social norms in India strongly favour men, therefore, reservation for women is expected to create equal opportunity for men and women.*.Due to female foeticide .infantacide and issues related to women’s health, sex ratio in India is alarming at 1.06 males per female . It is expected this will change the society to give equal status to women.*.Women are supposedly more resistant to corruption. Therefore, this bill might prove to be a factor restraining the growth of corruption.*.Women will get 33% reservation after this bill is passed and condition of women will improve.

Possible drawbacks

Passing the Women Reservation Bill may cause bias in the democratic process because of the following reasons:*.It may hurt the self respect of women who have come up on their own ability, it may result in lesser respect for women in the society. It may also bring down the quality of leaders.*.Parties will be forced to find women whether or not the women identify with the overall party agenda and the rest of the issues concerning all citizens, as opposed tojust women issues. There are no provisions to prevent discrimination against men because of finding women whoare inclined towards women issues alone, or, in other words, biased against men.*.Powerful male members of parties will be tempted to find female relatives to reserve the seat for themselves during the following cycle.*.It is feared that reservation would only help women of the elitist groups to gain seats, therefore causing further discrimination and under-representation to the poor and backward classes (According to a National Election Study, 68 per cent of today’s women MPs are millionairesses).

Nano-biotechnology meet in Bangalore

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

A two-day national conference on Molecular Medicine and Nano-biotechnology will be held at the NIMHANS Convention Centre here from October 13.

Organised jointly by the Department of Biotechnology, Sir M. Visvesvaraya Institute of Technology, Bangalore, and the Department of Life Sciences, Reva Institute of Science and Management, Bangalore, the conference seeks to highlight and bring forth the latest trends and developments in the domains of molecular medicine and nano-biotechnology through plenary talks, paper and poster presentations, workshops and panel discussions.

Illustrious personalities from the field of medicine, pharmacy, bio-engineering, life sciences and clinical research, besides delegates representing academics, research and development institutes, bio-tech companies and publishing houses are expected to attend the event.

“Molecular medicine can now be defined as distinctive discipline, concerned with understanding the pathogenesis of diseases at molecular level. Based on this knowledge, specific molecular tools for diagnosis, treatment and prevention are designed,” said a statement from the organisers.

The conference will be inaugurated by Principal Secretary, Information Technology, Bio-Technology and Science and Technology, Government of Karnataka Ashok Kumar Manoli.

The conference will be sponsored by Krishnadevaraya Education Trust, Bangalore, and REVA Group of Educational Institutions, Bangalore.The Hinduis the media partner.

More information can be obtained on website www.abhyuday.co.in and by sending an e-mail to mmnbt2010@gmail.com. Interested persons can call Ph: 9916303565 or 9845030652.

Sky is the limit; Future has no end; Growth knows no bounds; Technology Leaps!

Sounds too imaginative? Yes! Imagination is the key in human life and that is the main force behind every development of human lifestyle. Man founded technology, nurtured it, needless to say used it to perfection, and now, technology seems to have turned around and leading to ‘payback time’. What you sow, so you reap will be apt in describing the marriage of these two technologies; semiconductors and bio-tech; that has transformed into one called nano-biotechnology to form a branch called nanoway.

So what is it that we are talking about here? A techno-monitor: a chip that checks various parameters in a human body, and its functions and help in supplying appropriate potions/drugs to keep it going. Are we saying it is going to give life and increase the longevity of humans? Considering the impact that science and technology have had on the human race in the past, its natural to think that nothing is impossible.

What is Nano-biotechnology?

Nanotechnology (prefix ‘nano’ means dwarf in Greek) is an amalgamation of science and engineering that has effected the measurment in the lowest units (nanometer - billionth of a meter). Nanotechnology is a valuable contribution of the profound research by scientists and engineers to create new systems with novel functionalities. This gives nanotechnology greater share of control over a wide range of usage in applications right from high-density data to detecting DNA sequence to improved taste and wider variety of fruits and vegetables. On the commercial front, nanotechnology has enhanced every field in science, engineering, and technology; a phenomenal advantage, thus giving high efficiency and profitability.

Biotechnology is the application of biological research techniques to develop products that cater to the need of living beings.Nano-biotechnology, as the name suggests, is a mariage of nanotechnology and biotechnology. Each of these technologies has a tremendous impact by itself and therefore when they complement each other it results in efficacious fourth dimensional solutions.

Nanobiotechnology at its best

Technology is turning around to help the humans by providing easier methods to keep up a healthy living. As the population in the modern times ages, scientists are finding it difficult to manage the right combination of drugs to make them effective. The existing means of intake of drugs orally or through injections are becoming moderately effective and can be extremely painful due to the non-availability of accurate diagnosis.

One of the newer methods to deliver drugs at the right place, time, and amounts is being addressed through nano-biotechnology. Scientists and engineers have come out with new systems where the human-body parameters are monitored using a semiconductor chip that is placed inside a human body. The information recorded/acquired is then transmitted to another wrist-watch like equipment using telemetry, which, in turn, instructs the semiconductor chip to deliver the right amounts of drug to the right place.

For example: When a patient is being treated for diabetes, the semiconductor chip monitors the blood-sugar levels and passes on the information to the device outside of the body. The external device, in turn, instructs the semiconductor chip that acts as the drug delivery system, to release the right amounts of insulin into the blood, thus causing less or no side effects to the patient.

Summary

Nanotechnology used in biotechnology is definitely a life-saving innovation that has come as a boon to mankind. The above semiconductor chip application is just a modicum of what it is capable in terms of its impact on human race. The real applications can turn around the life-cycle of human beings in the years to come.